Raisins and Almonds

Whole-grain Strawberry Shortcake

[Posted by Ann]

This was strawberry jackpot week in northeastern Ohio. After two weeks of slightly tart berries that needed some sweetening, the perfectly luscious, sweet-as-candy strawberries have arrived. (Of course, with a little Ohio honey, or light maple syrup added, the early berries are still better and juicier than strawberries imported from far away places).

To celebrate our strawberry high season, I experimented with a new recipe for whole grain shortcake biscuits, adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. (Drop biscuits with strawberries and cream). This is an easy recipe using heavy cream instead of butter for the shortening. I made half the recipe, substituting spelt and buckwheat flour for the all purpose flour. Since spelt absorbs more moisture, I had to increase the ratio of the heavy cream. (all three flours are sold at the North Union Farmers Market)


I loved the biscuits; they tasted like a fluffier version of Carr’s wheat meal biscuits, nutty and flavorful. Here is my adaption of Boyce’s recipe.

Preheat over to 325 degrees F
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Add the dry ingredients and mix well
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup spelt flour
1-tablespoon buckwheat flour
1-teaspoon baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup turbinado or raw sugar

Pour in ½ cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream and stir with fork, (possibly add more if not all of the flour become moistened.) Using a spoon or your hands, scoop out and drop ¼ of the the dough onto the baking sheet, shaping it into a mound. Repeat three more times, there should be four biscuits.

Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the pan, baking another 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly before assembling in traditional strawberry shortcake (Or just enjoy them warm out of the oven.)  

My adventures with orange butter

[posted by Joan]


It all began with some leftover orange butter from Julia Child's Crepe Suzette recipe.
And some leftover Crepes Suzette. And a container of mascarpone in my refrigerator. And the need to make a fancy dessert for my three food-loving friends who were coming to dinner.
 
I thought about a gateau of crepes that I had once made in a cooking class, and thought maybe I could improvise my own version.I was also intrigued with Julia Child’s recipe  for an almond orange filling for crepes, following her Crepes 
Suzette recipe.

Here is what I did:
I took some slivered almonds and ground them with raw sugar in my mini food processor.

Then I mixed that into some mascarpone along with leftover orange butter.
I tasted the result, and it was delicious.
I  warmed up the four leftover crepes suzettes, unfolded them, and
spread each one with the filling, then stacked them into a cake.
I put them in the refrigerator to harden and chill.
When I was ready to serve the gateau, I cut it into quarters and
topped it with some hot fudge sauce I had leftover from a previous
dessert. My friends loved it. A success!

Then, a few weeks later, I still had some orange butter left (stored
in the freezer) and another set of food loving friends coming to
dinner. I thought about recreating the gateau of crepes, but didn’t’
really want to make a whole batch of crepes.
Then I came across a recipe for a Blood Orange Pound Cake I had
printed out to make, and decided to make that and cut it into layers,
and use the same filing and topping.

Here is the recipe for the cake:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/02/blood-orange-olive-oil-cake/

I did not have blood orange so I used big, pungent tangelos instead.

I added a little ground cinnamon to the recipe and used a good, 
whole-milk greek yogurt. It all worked beautifully and the cake was moist, fragrant, and delicious.

So far so good.

I tasted it and let it sit for a day before the dinner party. I
decided to modify the filling because my husband thought he had
become allergic to almonds. So I used dry roasted hazelnuts (purchased
in Oregon) instead. I took abut 1/3 cut of the nuts and ground them
with about ¼ cup sugar in my mini prep. Then mixed them with the
remaining orange butter (about 1/3 cup) and about 4 ounces of
mascarpone.

I cut the pound cake into four slices from the bottom up, and then
forsted the bottom layer, stacked another on top, frosted that, and
repeated until the top layer was put on and that was not frosted.
When done, there were four cake layers and three frosting layers.

I wrapped the cake in plastic wrap and chilled it for a few hours to
let the filling get more solid.
I made the fudge sauce by melting 4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips in
about ¼ cup cream with a Tbsp of butter mixed in. As soon as the chips
were mostly melted. I removed them from the heat and stirred vigoursly
until the mixture was satiny and smooth.
Then I mixed in some vanilla and ground cinnamon, and set the sacue aside.

After our meal was finished, I cut thin slices of the cake, topped
each with a dollop of the warmed up fudge sauce, and garnished each
serving with a single whole strawberry that had been dipped in
pondered sugar.
My guests seemed to be in heaven, making little groaning sounds as
they ate the cake.
I think will try it again! The leftovers are also good, with or
without the sauce.

Orange Butter
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 3 Tbsp orange liquer such as Grand Marinier

 For orange butter, pulse orange zest and sugar in a food processor,
to extract the zest oils. Add butter and orange juice and blend until
smooth. Stre in Orange liqueur.Transfer to a bowl or shape into a log
and chill until formed.